Step 1: Ingredients and Preparation

Dough1cup sweet glutinous rice flour (Mochiko is a popular brand in Japanese and Korean stores)3/4 cup water1/4 cup sugarand extra flour or corn starch for handling the dough.

Bean Paste(I made this from scratch because I couldn't find any in stores near me. You can find it pre-made. It's often called anko or shiro-an)1 cup dried white beans 1/2 cup sugar2 to 3 cups water

Strawberries - this recipe makes about 8 balls, so have 8 ripe strawberries on hand

Step 2: Make the Bean Paste!

After soaking the beans overnight in water, put them in a pot with fresh water and sugar and boil.

Keep an eye on them...they need to become tender. Depending on how dry your beans are, this should take between 30 minutes and 1 hour.

Add more water if the level gets low.

Once the beans are tender, strain them (reserving the liquid) and puree in a food processor or mash with a fork. Add a little more water if necessary to achieve a smooth but thick consistency. The paste should be thick enough that you can pick it up and mold it around the strawberries.

Step 3: Prepare the Berries

While your bean paste is cooling, you can get your strawberries ready :)

Remove the stems from your strawberries and cut off the white part.

Rinse them, and then pat them dry with a paper towel. If they're wet, the bean paste will not stick to them.

When you're sure that the berries are dry and the bean paste is cool enough to handle, take a small lump of bean paste and carefully mold it around the strawberry.
You want a substantial layer, but not one so thick that it falls off.
Leave a little bit uncovered at the base of the strawberry so that you can pick it up.

There's regular rice and glutinous rice. Glutinous rice has more amylopectin and less amylose than other kinds of rice so it's INCREDIBLY sticky, not to be confused with what Americans sometimes call "sticky rice" which is just a slightly stickier variety of regular rice. (It doesn't have the gluten protein that some people are allergic to though, it's just glutinous as in glue-y, not glutenous.) So, regular rice flour vs. glutinous rice flour also have different textures. Glutinous rice flour often gets used to make ball-shaped dessert that need to hold together and have a slightly bouncy texture like the above.

Here's the gory details of the difference between regular and glutinous rice for those interested: http://www.ncsu.edu/news/press_releases/02_10/275.htm

I love daifuku! I always try to eat my weight in both daifuku and mochi when I visit Japan. Sadly it is very hard to find the proper ingredients where I live. If that is the same for you I recommend finding an online asian grocery store to supply you.

One with water - and put the other one on top - it is better if you don't have the liquid touching the bowl, because the pastry will cook before you have a chance to use it.

Another way is to let your rice 'sit' for half an hour after it has boiled, remember that real rice has a husk, and it is much better to rinse with very cold water in a sieve chinois for four or five minutes. You have to rinse the rice, put your kettle on boil, and that is good enough, put the water through the seive, turn your rice at the same time four a couple of minutes with a wooden spatula - if you don't use the wooden spatula, you will have the taste of metal in your rice. Put the rice o the counter, on top of a piece of greaseproo, and let it rest - better if you put it through a moulin when it is cold.

The dough is easily usable for a couple of minutes after you have prepared; again, thai steamer is a god here. It warms it up and makes it more pliable.

Flouring your hands will do nothing apart from making this pastry more than a little dry - rinse your hands with a little peanut oil for every ball.

When you haveyour 'rounds' of pastry, use your hands and make them as thin as possible - stretching left and right until the pastry is nearly see-through - take a knife and put some of the strawberry confiture - (jam) accross the pastry - next - put some strawberries or some strawberry halves on the the pastry.

Next point - very important.

Put your hands in some iced water until you feel nothing.

Take some pastry, put a good strawberry in the middle of it and roll the pastry in your palms - left and right.

Drop them in the fryer or steam them in a basket over a wok with a liquid of papaye or mango underneath.

I will post a video a little later?

PS.

Sorry for the long wined explination.For the strawberries - you have two choices - put them in a brown paper bag - and store them with no sun for two or three weeks - and change the bag every two or three days for another - or make a quick strawberry Jam - adding a fresh strawberry , with some pistachios, at the last mintue.

When the Pastry is hard' role it out, for every strawberry - normally a couple of feet, and place your strawberries.

It is really much better if you make a if you have some planning for the things you need to prepare this recipe.

1 make your jam, ( this will keep for months in a hermetic container in the fridge).

Make your pastry - it will be much better if you prepare it a day in advance - don't ever put in the fridge - much better if you wrap in cling film and leave it on the counter until the Jam is set.

When you purée your pastry - you need to look out for the colour and translucence of the rice - if the rice is very white - you need to let it boil a little longer - if the rice is almost see through - you need to start again - in between is better.

I haven't tried this on the stove, but there are several recipes that use the stove.Here's one: http://www.recipezaar.com/77141They suggest you bring the water and sugar to a boil, remove it from heat, add the mochiko, stir well, and then return to a very low heat for an additional 2 minutes.Good luck!

I've made stuff (different kinds of ball-shaped desserts) with glutinous rice flour before. The way to tell when they're done is that they sink when you throw them in, but they float when cooked. If you're doing a big batch it's probably OK to just keep a pot of water on the boil all the time.

yay! I was literally just wondering how I can make these things yesterday--should have just looked it up on instructables, right? :D now can i make these just as easily with a thin inner layer of red bean paste, wrapped with white bean on the outside? or should i not bother because the 8 strawberries would probably all be gone by the time i finish the second bean paste batch?! ;) can't wait to try this out, looks delish! thank you so much for sharing!

Publix or a similarly high-end grocer should have an international or oriental/mexican section. I've seen something similar done with cornstarch, but it's the glutenous rice's fineness that really makes this pastry, so I don't recommend it. Also try health-food stores or alternative-diet places... not my thing, but sometimes they carry the more esoteric fare.

my dough was like rubber! i understand that it is suppose to be chewy but this was way to rubbery and sticky i couldnt handle it without it becoming completly stuck to my hand :[ and it wouldnt stay rolled out. i did take your advise and try again i tryed three times too! any idea what i did wrong?

This happened to me too but some quick thinking solved the problem. Add a very small amount of water to the dough, stir well and knead. Using the flour didn't help me from sticking to the dough. I dipped my hands in a bowl of water after my mum suggested it and it worked great.

I'm sorry to hear that it didn't work for you :( The dough is very very elastic, and I found that stretching it a little bit at a time eventually got it to the size I wanted. Try picking it up once you have a disc and pulling it gently from the middle, then turning, then pulling again. As for the stickiness, all I can suggest is to use more mochiko or some corn starch on your hands and on the surface you're working on. If it fails again...I dunno! Good luck!

If you can't find the flour go to super store. thats were I got mine. the brand you suggested to couldn't find bean paste either or at least not in red deer know were to get it in Edmonton so I am making it myself I found out a much faster way to let them soak right now i am waiting for it to be done then i can make the flour

I dont have a microwave at home (yes there are people out there without microwaves lol) and I found a way of cooking the rice flour dough without a microwave by boiling everything (except the rice flour) to a rapid boil and then pouring it over the flour and mixing it till it has no lumps in it. It only takes 2 mins if you use ready boiled water... Yummy

As part of my jap course at school were having a get-together thing where we have to bring along some japanese food we made. I think i'll have a crack at making these! Hopefully i don't make a complete hash of it lol, might have a test run tomorrow :P